Tuesday August 23rd, 2016

Posted at 3:38pm

Get ready to pay more for driver’s licences, licence renewals, and personal and commercial vehicle validations as of September 1st, 2016.

The Government of Ontario says that increases are necessary to cover the rising costs of maintaining provincial roads, bridges and highways, enhance cost recovery for the delivery of driver, and vehicle licensing services. Until 2012, the government says fees had not been increased in 15 years.

The cost of new driver’s licences, along with licence renewals, including the driver licensing fee as part of enhanced driver licences, goes up from from $81.50 to $90. It had previously risen from $80 to $81.50 in 2015.

Renewing licence plate and permit portion validation stickers will jump from $108 per year to $120 per year. It had previously increased from $98 per year to $108 per year in 2015.

Commercial vehicle validation (3,000 kg and less), for both personal use and commercial use will also jump from $108 to $120.

Northern Ontario vehicle licencing costs are increasing too. They’ll increase from $54 per year to $60 per year.

In January, 2017, additional fee changes will take effect.

The driver’s licence reinstatement fee after suspensions and administrative monetary penalty will change from $180 to $198 in January. Also in January, driving instructors licence replacement will change from $28 to $31, and oversize/overweight (o/o) permit replacement will change from $28 to $31

The government says the revenue generated from the fee changes will help support the maintenance of provincial roads, highways and bridges and that even with the increase, Ontario drivers are still paying lower fees than many other provinces in Canada.